MOSQUITOES 329 



us know to our cost, many of them do not scruple to attack man. 

 Warm weather and bright sunshine appear to be the conditions 

 most conducive to their activity. They are, as a rule, more 

 numerous in the vicinity of low or marshy places. The adults 

 appear to be especially fond of water, and their brownish or black 

 eggs, in the case of those whose larval life is passed on land, are 

 deposited either on stems or leaves. In the case of aquatic forms, 

 eggs are laid on reeds in the water. Pine woods, too, seem to 

 attract them. Some forms of larvae are said to live in rotten wood. 

 The larvae are always carnivorous, feeding on snails or insects in 

 their early stages, thus offering something of a compensation for 

 the mischief caused by them as adults. 



Injury. Not only are the attacks of tabanids exasperating to 

 both man and beast, but it is quite possible, even probable, that 

 they may transmit disease by biting a well animal after having 

 fed upon the blood of some infested creature. They are probably 

 active agents in distributing the disease known as " anthrax." 

 The writer was appealed to for help at one time by a mail carrier 

 in the northern part of Minnesota who had to discontinue carrying 

 mail on account of the attacks of Tabanidce upon his horses. 



The larva of one species of Chrysops is said to eat plant lice. 



Control. Nets or light covers are, of course, a protection, 

 particularly the latter. Where nets or light coverings cannot be 

 used, anointing the horses with repulsive ointments, such as fish 

 oil or fish oil and tar, will be of benefit. Care should be taken 

 never to use machine oil for this purpose, as the results of its use 

 are disastrous to the hair. 



The eggs of Tabanus atratus Forst. are parasitized by a tiny, 

 four-winged fly known as Phanurus tabanivorus Ashm. 



Some members of the genus Chrysops appear to direct their 

 attacks to the region about the eyes and ears of stock. Horses' 

 ears may be protected by nets, or the ears and skin about the 

 eyes may be smeared with the following solution: Pine tar, one 

 gallon; kerosene or fish oil or crude carbolic acid, one quart; 

 powdered sulfur, two pounds. This mixture also applied to 

 wounds, as those made by barbed wire, will keep off flies which 

 might otherwise lay their eggs in the open wounds. 



Mosquitoes. Members of this family, Culitidoe, when occur- 

 ring in great numbers, cause annoyance to stock, and frequently 

 excessive loss of blood. E. P. Niles, of Virginia, states that he 

 has seen occasions in northern Iowa when it was necessary to 



